Veoh is claiming to be the “democratization” of the television industry, allowing everyone access to the once “members only club.” It’s a higher quality version of You-Tube, with a less memorable URL (I thought google and yahoo proved that was all that mattered ten years ago).
So what’s the catch?
Three clicks later I was looking at a member list for said club, that apparently no longer exists … on Veoh’s about page. Michael Eisner … that name is familiar. Oh, and the primary investor is Time-Warner; between them they own more billions worth of content than Cougars at a Red Wings game – so what are they up to?
My best guess is it’s the shotgun approach to an uncertain future. No one knows where this is all headed … so Time Warner is sending a train down every track, in hopes that they aren’t left looking like they just fell off the turnip truck (if you can identify that reference you win a prize).
In the end, like doing your hot sister to piss off your mom, then finding out that she’s not really your sister anyway … Time Warner may be saving themselves despite themselves. With each of the megacorps launching tens of attempts each, plus all the indie and schmindie sites going up, MItB is compounding to critical mass faster and faster; the backlash may just lead people away from their computers and back to the newsstand where the conglomerates are already well entrenched.